David Krejci, left, has been a key on the penalty kill for the Bruins for the past three-plus game. / Scott Stewart, USA TODAY Sports

by Seth Lakso, Special for USA TODAY Sports

by Seth Lakso, Special for USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON -- Boston Bruins center David Krejci was already a leading candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy before Gregory Campbell went down with a broken leg in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Leading the playoffs with nine goals, 14 assists and 23 points, Krejci has played like an MVP in helping the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup final, where they faced the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 3 on Monday night. They entered the game with the series tied 1-1.

But Krejci has added a new dimension to his game, joining the team's highly successful penalty kill.

Campbell had been one Boston's top penalty killers when he sustained a broken right fibula blocking a shot from Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, an injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the playoffs.

So Bruins coach Claude Julien turned to Krejci to replace Campbell on the penalty kill, a natural move, the coach says.

"(Krejci's) always been in all the meetings, even this year, because if one of our penalty killers was in the box, he would kill some penalties," Julien said before Monday's game. "He's very comfortable with it. I think he's done a great job. David is a smart player. To me, it was not a big issue to put him in there because he's very capable of handling more ice time."

Julien said one of the reasons Krejci hadn't seen more time on the penalty kill during the regular season was because he liked to bring him in for the first shift following a penalty kill to help swing the momentum back in Boston's favor.

In the three-plus games without Campbell in the lineup, Krejci has seen 5:38 of shorthanded ice time and the Bruins' kill hasn't missed a beat. Entering Monday, Boston has successfully killed off 22 straight penalties - including six against the Blackhawks in Games 1 and 2.

"I kind of like (playing on the penalty kill)," Krejci said. "It's a little more responsibility and our kill has been doing a pretty good job all season, all playoffs, so I'm just trying to help as much as I can to keep the penalty kill going."

The Bruins have kept the opposition from scoring on 87.9% of power plays this offseason, with seven goals in 58 opportunities.

Krejci's 2:20 s of shorthanded ice time in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win for the Bruins, trailed only defensemen Zdeno Chara (3:37) and Dennis Seidenberg (2:45) for the team lead.

"David has been solid on the PK too and when he plays he steps up," said Daniel Paille, who has been a regular on the Bruins penalty kill all season. "He obviously has a slightly different type of style than (Campbell) on the penalty kill, but he's still effective and it's pretty easy to read off of David. He's a smart player, and knows when to be aggressive and when I'm sitting back. So, it's easy to fall into playing with him."

For Krejci, the extra ice time is all part of the job description.

"I haven't been killing much lately," he said, "but in these playoffs when someone goes down, you need other players to step up and I'm up for it and I'm just trying to do everything I can to help the team."